Erarta

Russia's largest private contemporary art museum in St. Petersburg — 2,800 works from 20 Russian regions, including nonconformist art from the Soviet era.

Erarta is Russia's largest private museum of contemporary art, which opened its doors in St. Petersburg on 30 September 2010. The collection comprises around 2,800 works by more than 300 artists from over 20 regions of Russia — paintings, prints, sculpture, installations, and multimedia works that together showcase the breadth of Russian contemporary art. The nonconformist strand is particularly well represented: art created outside the Soviet state system, often under pressure and against the grain. The museum building, an imposing 1950s Stalinist structure, stands in deliberate contrast to the experimental works housed within. Temporary exhibitions, performances, and concerts make Erarta a vibrant cultural centre that extends well beyond its permanent collection.